Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-01-13
YOUTH OF LINCOLN.
The BOY who showed Character.
fstics that Made the Man.

The first installment of the new life OF
Abraham Lincoln, by Messrs. Nicolay
and Hay, published in the November
Century, is of the deepest interest. 1t
gives a picturesque and graphic view OF
a stage of social development now al
most wholly outgrown. To judge from
externals nothing could have been less
favorable to the evolution of greatness
than the conditions which surrounded
the young pioneer. His lot was cast in
the semi. barbarism of the wilderness.
The hard necessities of their situation
left the people among whom he lived
neither leisure nor the inclination for the
acquisition of broader knowledge than
sufficed for their humble needs. As he
himself said in after years: "There was
absolutely nothing to excite ambition
for education" Everything was rough,
rude, makeshift. Money was almost
unknown. Barter was the basis of bust.
ness. The half.savage life in which
every man is mainly dependent on his
own labors for the satisfaction of all his
wants had not been passed. Education
was reduced to its simplest elements.
A few months sufficed to put young Lin.
coin in possession OF all the schoolmaster
in the district could teach him. Then,
had he been common lad, he would
have naturally swayed himself level
with the stunted life around him.
But nothing is SO clearly shown forth
in this biography as the mate capacity
of this roughly cased pioneer. His diff
ference from his neighbor appears pre-.
cisely at the point where the fragment.
ary education of the region ended.
Instead of being content to acquire "the
three Rs" the boy Lincoln instantly
began to educate himself, and the meas
ure of his resolution is the extent of the
obstacles to his progress. Working all
day at hard manual labor, he would on
reaching his log cabin home, "go to the
cupboard, snatch piece of corn bread,
take down q book, sit down, cock his
legs up as high as his head and read. +"
His passion for knowledge was some
times oddly exhibited. Thus we are told
that che used to go to David Turnham's,
the town constable, and devour the Re.
vised Statutes of Indiana. as boys in our
days do the "Three Guardsmen Nor
did he read aimlessly, but took full notes
of everything worth preserving. and
then, because paper was SO scarce, com.
mitted his notes to memory. "He
would sit by the fire at night and cover
the wooden shovel with essays and arith-
metical exercises, which he would shave
off and begin again." All this time he
was doing a mans work in the woods
and fields. 1t was in his leisure that
these intellectual tasks were carried
forward. There is no more striking
illustration in history of the triumph Of
a great spirit over adverse circumstances.
1t is sometimes alleged that the pioneer
life develops character in a special way.
As rule it cannot be so. Hardship,
privation, exclusion from civilizing agen-
cies, must depress the average man
One thing indeed this life may do
namely, instill more genuinely demo.
cratic independence and self.confi.
dence than urban culture tends to pro.
duce; and this one advantage, among
many awbacks, Lincoln shared.
But what we see most plainly in this
case is the early and conspicuous
superiority of the man to his surround
ings. There was in him the spirit W hich
conquers success under all conditions.
From the time he could reflect at all it
is plain that he began to look out into a
larger world than he had any expe.
risnce,of; that he began, ,sinstinctively
almost, to prepare himself for higher
sphere OF action. The one source of
strength which perhaps he owed to the
free and unsophisticatedllfe of the
frontier was that simple self-apprecia.
ton, far removed from conceit, which
saved him from the doubts and depres-
sions more self-conscious men suffer
under like conditions. Doubtless he
felt himself equal to any fortune that
might befall him, for genius, however
real its humility may be, seldom if ever
remains ignorant of it's own potentiality
Another fact stands out clearly from
the record of Lincoln's early life
namely, the strong practical sense
which made him so eminentely fit q
type of the best order of American
character. He knew just what to do
and how to do it; and what is mnch
rarer, he knew what to say and how
to say it. Instance the letters to his
"ne'er.do.weel" relatives, who wanted
to borrow money which he was too
wise to lend them. These letters are
models of clear common-sense and of a
simplicity of expression that is admir-.
able. 1t is not every American boy
who brings into the world Abraham
Lincoln's capacities, and it would be
folly to say that all who try can emu.
late the deeds of that great man. But
in the resolute pursuit of the highest
aims attainable this part of his career
can be initiated by far less royalty
gifted natures, and in the success Of
his endeavor there is assurance that
true capacity will never fail of recogni-
tion or re award N Y Tribune